[2011] 2nd Season Syndrome

2nd season syndrome, is there a cure for this deadly disease?

Playing as Napoli i finished my first season winning the league and cup double, i was chuffed to bits. Then, out of nowhere the deadly disease strikes, 8 games in and i have 2 points! This is not the first time i have fallen ill with 2nd season syndrome, i have suffered on almost every FM. Is there a cure for this sinister virus?

Not to get happy that you can sign better players. Apart from that know I don't think there is.

I often fall in to this trap.

Never, ever keep your same 11. Add some big name signings, youth players, tougher training, tweak your tactics. The AI adapts to your tactics.

have you signed a lot of players? they will take time to gel.

not to devalue the above comment, although the AI will adapt to your tactics, making too many changes that your team aren't ready for will have a negative effect on your team. if you are going to change formation, make sure you have prepared for this by setting it on match preperation to allow your team to understand your tactics.

i struggle when i make too many signings in one go. even if the new players perform well, some times the existing players' form will decrease

After the first season buy 6-7 players, and make sure 3-4 of them play regularly in your starting eleven.

just hit match training and select team blend to the maximum, tweak your tactics and stay cool

I just had the best second season I have ever had, indeed one of the best seasons overall I have ever had, since I first started playing these games in 1998. But it helps to have a team that starts with several young stars on the cusp.

For me in FM 2010 it was "third season syndrome"-

First, I played as Athletic Bilbao, and ended 4th my first season, and finished in the same spot the next season. Third season, I was sacked in October while my team was sitting in 11th.

A new save as Tottenham I played well in my first season and finished 4th. Next season, finished second and then my third season was sacked in October while I was sitting in 9th.

I started another game as Lazio and finished around sixth my first season. The next season I finished 4th. Then, the dreaded third season came, and I was sacked in October with my team in 12th place.

For me in FM 2010 it was "third season syndrome"-

First, I played as Athletic Bilbao, and ended 4th my first season, and finished in the same spot the next season. Third season, I was sacked in October while my team was sitting in 11th.

A new save as Tottenham I played well in my first season and finished 4th. Next season, finished second and then my third season was sacked in October while I was sitting in 9th.

I started another game as Lazio and finished around sixth my first season. The next season I finished 4th. Then, the dreaded third season came, and I was sacked in October with my team in 12th place.

lol, still, you seem to have interesting careers!

In FM 10 i played with napoli, got 4th in my first season, made 3 new signings, got to the CL semi's but only 7th in the league, They fired me!!

Managing Napoli in the 2nd season is a b***h, I know from experience. You really have to tweak your tactic to be more attacking, or else you'll have lots of matches with 0-0s

I'll let you all in on a little secret. The supposed "second season syndrome", "third season syndrome", or whatever season syndrome, are all the same thing. In fact, they the same as the also dreaded "second half of the season syndrome". The reason why you are all having these problems and experiencing these "syndromes" is because you're all being one dimensional, more or less. Part of being a manager is adjusting to different circumstances, which apparently none of you are doing, or at least doing very little. The game adjusted to how it perceives your team, you on the other hand, have not, therefore you now have these "syndromes" to deal with.

The AI adapts to your tactics.

It really, really does not. 30+ seasons in FM10 with not a tweak in my tactics and I'm still winning trophies left and right. I have experienced this "syndrome" before of course in other saves, but sometimes it will happen for no reason, just because the game thinks this is the run of results you should get. Don't take the game too seriously is my advice.

This "syndrome" is a complete myth. If you have been succesful for 1 or 2 seasons all of a sudden you are going to be the favourites for games so teams are going to tighten up a bit. When your playing a better side i imagine you play a little more cautiously, the AI are doing the same thing. Its not so much the AI twigging on to your tactics, but rather, they adapt to your increased reputation within that league. You just have to adapt to teams playing more defensive and counter attacking football against you.

2nd season syndrome, is there a cure for this deadly disease?

Playing as Napoli i finished my first season winning the league and cup double, i was chuffed to bits. Then, out of nowhere the deadly disease strikes, 8 games in and i have 2 points! This is not the first time i have fallen ill with 2nd season syndrome, i have suffered on almost every FM. Is there a cure for this sinister virus?

Watch out, 'Arry will come and try to take your job. He'd love another excuse to go on about '2 points in 8 games' before he came in.

As for the problem...if you start out with a unfanciable team that wasn't expected to do anywhere near that well, then inevitably the next season other teams will take you more seriously. Depending on how you were doing during the first half of the first season, you may also see that start to happen during the latter half of the first season.

You'll need to improve your team as your opponents will be giving you more respect, and any sort of 'okay' players who were 'good enough' last season may not be good enough this season. So you'll have to look into that. You may also have to become more aggressive with your tactics against midtable teams. A lot of lower teams will start to treat you like one of the 'big clubs' after you have such a successful season and will 'park the bus' and you'll need to change your tactics accordingly.

Other than that...well, sometimes teams just have a great year and then fall back down to earth the next season. It may just be that you had a lot of luck last year. It happens.

I'll let you all in on a little secret. The supposed "second season syndrome", "third season syndrome", or whatever season syndrome, are all the same thing. In fact, they the same as the also dreaded "second half of the season syndrome". The reason why you are all having these problems and experiencing these "syndromes" is because you're all being one dimensional, more or less. Part of being a manager is adjusting to different circumstances, which apparently none of you are doing, or at least doing very little. The game adjusted to how it perceives your team, you on the other hand, have not, therefore you now have these "syndromes" to deal with.

Even though I suffered from third season syndrome in FM10, in a later career with Athletic Bilbao I finished in the top four almost every year, eventually winning the league in 2019. I then won it in 2022, 2023, and 2024. I also won three Spanish Cups, five Spanish Super Cups in a row, and won the Champion's League once, and made the Europa League final once.

The kicker is, I used the same tactic until 2011- and had never changed it since then. It really doesn't matter if the tactics change.

The big problem is the fact that your teams reputation rises a lot if you win the league and any other cup. Meaning teams will play differently against you. What you should do is change from a conservative formation to a reasonably attacking one. Rather than changing your first 11 or adding players, moving to a new formation is even more effective as your players are gelled, they just need to learn the new formation which shouldn't be long after learning basics from your previous one.